Inside-Out Sweet Potatoes

This irreverent, inside-out approach to everyone’s favorite sweet potato casserole is irresistible to children once they find out there is a marshmallow inside. It also becomes a not-so-guilty pleasure for adults when they become privy to the same secret. It’s a surprise dish is always a hit at the holidays. (And yes, instead of being fried, they can be baked on a baking sheet lined with Silpat or parchment if you really want. But, like most things, these inside-out sweet potatoes are better fried.)–Martha Hall Foose

LC Juggling Everything At Once Note

Thanksgiving may not seem the ideal time to stand at the stove and deep-fry sweet potato-smothered marshmallows one by one. We realize that. Yet these crazy little bombs of sweet, gooey deliciousness are perhaps better suited to no other day of the year. Clearly, it’s a conundrum, one made easier thanks to cookbook author Martha Hall Foose, who suggests a savvy make-ahead strategy. She bakes and mashes the sweet potatoes early in the day or even the night before, then coats the marshmallows with the sweetly spicy sweet potato goo, plops them on a baking sheet, and refrigerates them for up to several hours. This means you can forget about them until after you take the turkey out of the oven and are waiting impatiently for it to rest, which is when you roll the sweet potatoes in the cornflake crumbs and get to frying. We’d even go so far as to suggest you snag a guest, hand him an apron, and ask him to do the honors. See simple it can be?

3. Working with your hands, encase each marshmallow in some of the sweet potato mixture, forming a ball. If the sweet potato mixture seems too soft to hold its shape, stir in some of the crumbs to thicken it. (You can cover and refrigerate the sweet potato-smothered marshmallows for up to several hours.) Dip each ball in the egg and then roll it in the crumbs. Refrigerate just until the oil is hot.

4. Preheat the oven to 200° F (93°C). In a 2-quart saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat to 375°F (190°C). Place a wire rack over newspaper or paper towels.

5. Fry the inside-out sweet potatoes one or two at a time for 3 to 4 minutes, turning as needed, until lightly browned. Remove with a spider or slotted spoon, and place the drained balls on the prepared rack and transfer to the oven to keep warm while frying the remaining batches. Serve warm.

Baked and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190° C). Pierce each sweet potato several times and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Bake for 40 minutes, or until tender and easily pierced with the tip of a sharp knife. Allow the sweet potatoes to cool in their jackets. When cool enough to handle, halve the potatoes, scoop out their flesh, and mash with a fork or potato masher until smooth.

Testers Choice

The flavors of this fantastic dish are amazing. The accompanying picture is a little misleading because it makes the balls look small—when you actually start to add sweet potato around the marshmallows, they become rather huge. Don’t skimp on the amount of sweet potato or cornflakes, or cracks may appear during or after frying and cause the marshmallow to ooze out before you get to eat them.

Much as I’d like to say yes, I wouldn’t, Becky. I think the moisture content of foods tends to get slightly wacky after freezing, and since you’ll be deep-frying these, you don’t want extra spattering or sogginess. Especially not as you’re juggling everything for the Thanksgiving table. Although take a look at the note prior to the recipe, it does offer some advice for making them partly in advance. Every little bit helps. And don’t be shy about asking someone else for help in the kitchen and give them a specific task to accomplish.

Hi Kathy, I wish that i could give you some specific guidance for baking them, but our testers only tested them as written, fried. If you do try and eliminate the frying step, please let us know how they turn out. It could be a great help to other readers.

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